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The Angel

The gun itself features many standard features that are upgrades in most other guns. These include;
o On/Off Dump valve in minireg foregrip
o 45 grip frame with rubber moulded grips
o Venturi bolt
o Jacko rifled Barrel
o Sight rail

I was puzzled at first as to why a sight rail was built when the feed port is vertical and any line of sight would be obscured by the elbow. The Angel's creator John Rice claims that the sight rail was there purely for aesthetics. It also serves to strengthen the construction of the main body which is really very solid. When the marker was being developed they weren't quite sure whether the market was ready for a vertical feed hopper and left they sight rail in the design in case they reverted to a left or right hand feed. The vertical feed proved successful as testing showed it could feed 1.6 paintballs more per second than other models.
The bolt is made of very lightweight industrial strength plastic called nyloil that is very readily removable from the gun by pulling a single knob and rotating it 90 degrees at the back of the gun. Called Rotabreech, this is a really excellent feature that saves loads of time when cleaning.

The Angel comes in semi or full auto option which is changed via a chip beneath the hand grip. Timing and velocity of fire can be adjusted on this chip to fire up to 15 shots a second although it is factory set at between 10 and 12. The fully auto chip is devastating but for legal reasons can at present only be sold in the US where it comes as standard.
Like the RT Automag the Angel is air or nitrogen only.
I must admit that I was a little worried at first that the Angel having circuitry and batteries inside would be a bit fragile. This is definitely not the case. I have seen a couple of Angels take knocks that would have broken other markers in two. Instead only the elbow was snapped off.
 
Electronics
The Angel charges up from a cigarette lighter which plugs into the back of the gun. I was a bit worried about this at first because what happens in the middle of a game if you get a flat battery when you need it the most. Fortunately a full charge will give you 500,000 shots (a whopping 200 cases of paint) or 20,000 if you are using a VL2001 the add on extra hopper. I personally wouldn't leave my expensive new toy in my car for all to see (and steal!) but I am told an adapter to fit into a home PowerPoint is readily available at an electronics store such as Dick Smith/Tandy/Radioshack. These deliver enough power to theoretically charge up 50 Angels at a time so would certainly do the business. II Sports also sells an inexpensive AC adaptor made for the Angel so you can have the peace of mind of charging it in your house rather than the car.
An LCD display will be developed for the back of the marker when the market is ready for it. This will feature a display of;
o Game time
o Battery Status
o Time of Last Charge
o Rate of Fire
o Number of Shots fired

Testing
I gave the Angel a good workout with 300 paintballs over a radar chronograph. All the shots fired were between 285 and 299 fps and were very accurate. The Angel had zero shoot down which meant as fast as I could pull the trigger there were no duff shots.The gun itself is pretty silent and if it wasn't for the great splotches of paint in a tight grouping I wouldn't have realized it was firing at all. The trigger pull is really light and can be adjusted to be even lighter. Careful if you do. I found myself almost shooting myself in the foot a couple of times when jumping into a bunker. You do get used to it tho, and the advantage of the trigger-job is worth the money.

Velocity is adjustable in two ways:
By using an Allen key on the adjusting screw in the mini reg.
By turning the set screw in the grip frame circuit board.
Both these turning screws are recessed so neither needs a locking nut for tournament play.

Intellifeed Hopper/VL2001
This is an add on extra to the Angel but is well worth the few extra dollars. It is basically a Viewloader 2000 hopper with souped up paddles and a lead directly into the back of the marker. When the fire rate is greater than 1 shot per second then the paddle will start turning to feed paintballs. This system is alleged to feed paintballs 40% faster than a standard Shredder hopper. This equates to up to 15 paintballs per second which is the fastest the marker can fire. It also has the advantage that when you are sneaking about the field the motor on your hopper won't suddenly start whirring giving away your position when you accidentally tip your hopper on the side.

Factory
The Birmingham factory where they produce the marker has 10 full time staff working 24 hours in two shifts. Something like 80% of the markers they produce are sold to the States where the Angel is doing big business. The rest are sold in Europe and world-wide. The Angel was designed and invented by John Rice. He has a good background for the job having studied metallurgy for 5 years at Cambridge and worked most of his life in the electronics industry for such giants as General Electric Corporation (GEC). With the Angel he combined his hobby and his career when he joined WDP as technical director 2 years ago.
 
Mods/Alterations
The original Angel as released has not been altered very much since its launch in early 97. The only slight changes have been a stronger exhaust valve and a slightly heavier trigger pull. On the first batch of 100 or so markers the trigger pull was too light especially with the addition of double finger triggers causing the marker go off whilst the player was walking the field. This has now been remedied. Apart from the double trigger mod and the aesthetically pleasing splash anodizing there is not a lot else to do to improve the standard set up of the Angel. Planet Paintball had developed a low pressure mod which although it may have improved performance has the down side of using more air. The Eclipse Angel also features a machined body which is lightened and restyled.

Maintenance
There is only one major moving part - the bolt. So, this marker requires little or no user maintenance. Unlike most markers, NO oil should be used on the internals. This baby wants to stay dry. The bolt should and must be left DRY!!!!!!!!!! Nothing, no oil whatsoever. The electronics can be tested by an on board self test diagnosis detailed in the manual. Service kits are available but are really only for qualified repair agents and dealerships. You would do yourself a favor by NOT attempting to 'tweak' the electronics yourself unless you really really really know what you are doing.

Conclusion
Unfortunately it won't make you play better Paintball but the Angel will certainly give you the edge in competition play. This is only the first generation of electropneumatics and will set the standard for the future. Buds and Mags - watch out!